I found this site with some different information regarding cooking beef; Prime Rib in particular.Some things I had learned as the right thing to do, he calls "old wives tales." Anyway, it was interesting to me, so thought I would share it here.

Mike wrote:None of my family or friends like Prime Rib (Rib Roast cooked whole) as well as they do slicing them into Ribeye steaks and grilling them individually. I guess it's the wood smoke flavor?

Here's the deal on Prime Rib. If you have a mid aged cow that comes open, the Rib Primal likely will be a bit chewy as a steak. However, if fleshy, this age of animal can have some of the best flavor. Grind what you don't want for roasts, but do absolutely try the Rib Roasts from such stock.

Faster horses wrote:I found this site with some different information regarding cooking beef; Prime Rib in particular.Some things I had learned as the right thing to do, he calls "old wives tales." Anyway, it was interesting to me, so thought I would share it here.

As you might suspect, I have opinions... OK, let's call them preferences.

First... Cut off the Bones???? I strongly disagree. This is the best part of the whole Prime Rib. It is what I eat while other waste time on the center of this cut. Sheesh! They are suggesting having the butcher take the best part!

Fat... I actually will eat the fat. But, I know the majority won't. So, I would say maybe trim and lift, season the meat and then tie back on? I like how the fat protects the meat and preserves juices.

Dry Rubs.... Try what I call wet rubs and you will be amazed. Rather than Garlic or onion powder, mash onions and garlic into a paste. The fumes from fresh don't exist the same in a dry powder.

I am a huge fan of reverse searing of meats. Why potentially dry meat by adding excessive heat in the beginning?

Now, my way of doing a Smoked Prime Rib.

I will do my rubs and such... Then, smoke it for however much smoke flavor you prefer. Smoking is simply adding flavor and a degree of heat. The issue with Traegers for example is you can't add heat without adding smoke. My wife isn't a fan of excessive smoke flavor. A lot of people aren't. So, I smoke for just a bit for a hint of smoke flavor.

Next step, I wrap in cheese cloth. I am going to do a British style of cooking this Prime Rib. So, I want the Cheese cloth so it is easier to remove the rock salt. Put the Roast in a pan, Cover it liberally with Rock Salt, cook on low temperature until done.... Remove, Rest, take it out and pull the cheese cloth which removes rock salt.

BTW, I have started doing my briskets by finishing them in an oven. I smoke them for 3 hours and then finish in the oven for 9 hours. while I sleep. No sense in an overnight Brisket smoke where I get little to no sleep.

What kind of smoker do you have?Knowing you, and knowing that you deal in only the best beef, I will print off your instructions and take them to heart.

I did our Prime rib the way the link showed. Here is what I found. It was the same the whole way through, top to bottom, so that was nice. However, I used my oven probe and having my doubts that you could cook a rib roast (it wasn't a Prime Rib; as the article noted, it was Choice Rib Roast) at 225 degrees and have it cook very fast. But it did. Then I was concerned that 130 degrees wasn't enough temperature so I left it in to 145. My mistake. It was medium, not medium rare. I wasn't able to print out the instructions and I missed where he said to take it out at 115 degrees!!! I think the biggest disappointment was that it wasn't juicy, so I won't take the fat off again. I don't know how the guy gets away with taking the fat off. It was very easy to slice. I had put the ribs in the bottom of the pan so they were good. I used a few plus some of the trim for soup and that was awesome. Now with your tips and with what I learned, I will have a huge success next time. I did buy 3 Choice Rib Roasts so will have 2 more that are really good.

Thanks for your input, PPRM!

There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.

I use a Traeger and cooked a brisket and a Elk roast for our belated Xmas dinner. Also did a turkey on it Xmas day. The brisket was trimmed at the butcher and wasn't quite the way I liked but tasted great. The Elk was very tender,very dark and was cooked to temp.

Faster horses wrote:What kind of smoker do you have?Knowing you, and knowing that you deal in only the best beef, I will print off your instructions and take them to heart.

I did our Prime rib the way the link showed. Here is what I found. It was the same the whole way through, top to bottom, so that was nice. However, I used my oven probe and having my doubts that you could cook a rib roast (it wasn't a Prime Rib; as the article noted, it was Choice Rib Roast) at 225 degrees and have it cook very fast. But it did. Then I was concerned that 130 degrees wasn't enough temperature so I left it in to 145. My mistake. It was medium, not medium rare. I wasn't able to print out the instructions and I missed where he said to take it out at 115 degrees!!! I think the biggest disappointment was that it wasn't juicy, so I won't take the fat off again. I don't know how the guy gets away with taking the fat off. It was very easy to slice. I had put the ribs in the bottom of the pan so they were good. I used a few plus some of the trim for soup and that was awesome. Now with your tips and with what I learned, I will have a huge success next time. I did buy 3 Choice Rib Roasts so will have 2 more that are really good.

Thanks for your input, PPRM!

I have a green Mountain I use occasionally. Actually, I bought three really cheap Charcoal Grills and have learned to use them in modified ways to smoke. My thought was I needed to show people you didn't need to spend $1,000 on a deluxe traeger to have really good meat. These were on Clearance at Home Depot for $35 each. Since it is direct heat, I do Briskets with cap side down so the meat is actually getting indirect heat. That is one modification example.

My thought on your dry roast is it could be two additional things besides fat. One, is since it went to Medium, the juices were drying out until it got there. Two, you may not of let it rest long enough after pulling for the juices to resorb. This second thing I learned from a chef when I described my dry roasts. When I used to cut roasts, they would be steaming as I cut into them. Another thing you can do is collect the juices usually used for gravy and ladle over the roast as it rests. Hmmmmm.... I also never considered using a Slow Cooker to finish a Rib Roast....